These are Fort Worth’s most endangered buildings. Can they be saved?
Historic Fort Worth, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating and preserving the city’s architectural heritage, released its 2026 most endangered places list on May 5.
The annual event shines a light on some of Fort Worth’s most at-risk gems in a bid to spur action toward their preservation.
“These places tell stories of our cultures, our neighborhoods, and our shared history,” said Historic Fort Worth board president Alyssa Banta.
“When they disappear, we lose more than a building. We lose a piece of Fort Worth,” she said.
Previous iterations of the list helped spur interest into revitalizing the Fort Worth Stockyards, which is now one the city’s most recognizable tourist attractions.
This year’s list includes another Stockyards landmark along with three other properties facing some kind of neglect.
The old wall and staircase is all that remains of the former Swift meat packing plant on Northeast 23rd Street.
Fort Worth’s population tripled in the decade after the Swift and Armor plants opened, according to a press release from Historic Fort Worth.
European immigrants along with native born Americans poured into what was then known as Niles City for a chance to work in the two plants.
The Mary Elizabeth Apartments at 2008 Hemphill St was another newcomer to the endangered list. The city of Fort Worth has been in a years-long legal battle with its owner first, over unpaid water bills followed by repeated code violations, according to legal documents.
The city is petitioning a Tarrant County court to put the building into receivership, according to court documents.
The building’s owner, Stephen Chacko, did not immediately respond to a phone call and text message from the Star-Telegram requesting comment.
The last two buildings are perennial endangered list participants — the Fort Worth Community Arts Center and the T&P Warehouse.
The city led an effort in 2023 to redevelop the building after years of deferred maintenance resulted in roughly $26 million worth of repairs. That effort stalled in May 2024, and the building has been empty ever since.
The city and the owners of the T&P Warehouse have been going back and forth for years about efforts to redevelop and preserve the building.
A 2023 report showed the building needed roughly $2 million of repairs, but still could be saved.
Historic Fort Worth’s 2026 list of endangered places
- Mary Elizabeth Apartments, 2008-2012 Hemphill St.
- Swift Stairs & Wall, 709 NE 23rd St.
- Fort Worth Community Arts Center, 1300 Gendy St.
- T&P Warehouse, 401 W. Lancaster Ave.
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